WEDNESDAY, 19th DECEMBER, 1917. (At Balingup.) Present:

J. O. Giles, Esq. (Chairman). B. L. Clarkson, Esq., | H. H. Paynter, Esq., F. E. Venn, Esq.

JACOB HAWTER, Orchardist, Mullalyup, sworn and examined:

10509. To the CHAIRMAN: I have been established in this district for 17 years. The area I hold is 3,000 acres, about half of which is freehold. For the C.P. land I am paying the Government 10s. an acre. I am about half a-mile from the railway station. All the land is fenced. There are 19 paddocks. There are about 200 acres fully cleared and 500 acres partly cleared. The rest is ring-barked. The property is well equipped with buildings. The total area of land that has actually been under the plough is 250 acres. The are under orchard is 160 acres and there are 20 acres of nursery. I have a complete plant. The stock I carry consists of 1,300 sheep, and I have had as many as 2,000. There are 10 working horses and there are six to eight cows. I started with a capital of between £2,000 and £3,000.

10510. How much land do you think an average married settler should hold in this district in order to be successful?—That is a difficult question to answer. A man who goes in for orchard cultivation should go in for mixed farming. He should have an orchard of 20 acres and he should not have less than 200 acres for mixed farming. If he goes in for sheep he should certainly have more land. In connection with clearing, in recent years we have used explosives more extensively and have done a lot of clearing at from £5 10s. to £6 an acre. Clearing for orchards would cost more. I do not think my clearing would be as heavy as the average clearing. The cost of clearing properly for orchards would depend on the timber. I have had land cleared at £13 an acre, but the average should be £10.

10511. By Mr. VENN: What breed of sheep do you find does best in this district?—English. The carrying capacity of proved holdings in this district would be a sheep to the acre. Some of the flats would carry six to seven sheep easily. Lambs from this district have brought record prices. Most of the settlers go in for sheep. More people are going in for dairying just now than was the case some years ago. It seems to be more profitable. I think it is a good dairying district. You can grow summer feed here. I have not gone in for commercial dairying. I consider that the fruit growing industry is one of the most remunerative to which the land in this district can be applied. Provided suitable land is selected. Anyone starting in the industry should study markets or the commercial outlet for the produce. At the present time things are very abnormal, but we must look forward to the time when we shall be able to export again. There is no doubt that the apple is the fruit par excellence to be grown in this district. There are only a few varieties which are considered commercially suited for export, namely, Johnathan first, Cleopatra second, and Dunn's Seedling third. The Dunn's Seedling has been a favourite on the continental market. That market is non-est just now, but we are looking forward to the future when it will be open again. There should be grown also a few light varieties for local markets, such as Yates, Granny Smith, and Chandler. It is a mistake to plant too many varieties as has been done in the past. One of the difficulties at this distance seems to be the transit. The trucks overheat and the fruit is damaged. Freights are higher than in the Eastern States. We shall never be successful in the manufacture of jam until we get similar conditions to those which exist in the Eastern States. In Victoria, New South Wales, and Tasmania the cases are sent to the factory and are returned to the grower by the railways free of cost, providing they are going to be refilled and sent back to the same factory. Here our cases are burnt or are absolutely destroyed. There must be great economical waste in this direction and I suppose it amount to close on £40,000 per annum. Of course we do not want all the cases back. We only want those that are sent to jam factories or canning factories. In regard to the fruit fly, there would be less danger if the cases loaded into trucks were fumigated. I think the trucks should also be fumigated after the fruit has been removed from them. Last year there was an enormous crop of fruit and there was a shortage of cases, and the State suddenly increased the price of cases 40 to 45 per cent. and gave the excuse that they had to work at high speed. They also stated that prices would go back to normal after the rush was over. Unfortunately, we find the Government mills are quoting the same high price to-day and there seems to be a compact between Millars' and the Government to keep that price up. We consider that is very unfair to the fruit growing industry. In Tasmania the cases for which we pay 10s. 3d. for are sold at 5s. 6d. to 6s. a dozen. In Victoria the price is 4s. 6d. to 6s. The case made by the State Sawmills is absolutely the best on the market, but we have no such timber that the costs should not be so high. The previous Government were selling these cases for 7s. 6d. and making a good margin of profit. There is consider